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The Man Group - Innate Immunity and Inflammasomes

The Man Group is currently accepting applications from potential Honours and PhD Students:

Some of the possible project areas available to Honours/PhD students include:

Uncovering how host cells recognise and respond to intracellular pathogens and danger signals.

Unravelling the molecular mechanisms of inflammasome formation.

Understanding the role of innate immune sensors in regulating the development of cancer and the composition of the gut microbiota.

Identifying novel activators and inhibitors of the innate immune system to prevent and treat infection, autoinflammatory diseases and cancer.

The Man Group investigates the role of innate immunity in infectious diseases and cancer. Pattern-recognition receptors are germ-line encoded innate immune sensors which detect pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). These receptors activate signalling pathways and mediate the production of inflammatory cytokines, type I interferons and other anti-microbial molecules. We use cutting-edge technology to study the mechanisms by which host sensors recognise bacteria, viruses and parasites, and how these sensors shape the overall immune response to infection. We also study the molecular basis by which uncontrolled inflammation can lead to the development of cancer, autoimmunity and inflammatory diseases.